The present invention relates to lasers and, particularly, to an apparatus and method for suppressing diffraction rings in lasers.
Presently available commercial lasers produce undesirable rings of light in their output beams. These rings are commonly referred to as "diffraction rings" and appear as halos of light forming concentric circles about the central laser spot. When lasers are used as optical scanners, e.g., UPC bar code readers, it is important to have as sharp a beam as possible. Diffraction at the output can be construed as multiple beams and may result in false readings.